recently thrifted

{70's style pottery vase}

{ribbon}

{scarf}

{vintage sheet}

{basket to hold our crayons}

My little walk downtown on Saturday, with its stop at the thrift store, turned out to be quite nice. It was overcast and wintery--maybe some of the last of the wintery weather--and I had pretty good thrifting luck. I live in a cute and small town, and it is possible to do walks like this and combine them with practical errands, so I ask myself, why don't I do things like this more often??

Actually, I do know the answer--limited time is always an issue, with working and raising a family and all. But soon it will be summer, and I can be more mindful of walking places and enjoying where we live.

vegan nut cream!

I made vegan cookies as hoped for this weekend, and enjoyed one (okay, two) with a nice cup of tea, just as I had hoped to do (I happily accomplished most of my dreamy/practical list, but alas did not get to cut out my skirt, darn it).

The shortbread cookie recipe is from 30 Day Vegan, thus not mine to share, but the vanilla nut cream--so delicious!--is available here. This was really fun to make (with ground cashews, maple syrup, vanilla and a little water--I used my regular blender for the whole thing and it worked fine). This would be good on fruit (as shown in the video I linked) or any shortbread style cookie--vegan or un. Or for frosting.



I love this page out of the current Anthropologie catalog, don't you?

managing magazine clutter

A lot of you mentioned on my post about magazines a little while ago, "no way am I adding back more magazines--the clutter gets way out of hand!" I feel your pain. My little stack grows at a surprising rate too. What to do?

It occurred to me this weekend, that Flylady addresses this as part of the weekly home blessing (white tornado over here). The last 10 minutes of the white tornado are devoted to purging old magazines and catalogs. I admit I hadn't been doing a very good job of this: usually I'd recycle one or two unneeded catalogs and maybe not address the magazines at all.



But this week, I had the house blessedly to myself, and I decided to really use those last 10 minutes to slim down my magazine stack, even if just a little. ( You can see my Flylady journal there in the corner with all the items crossed off but the last.) I gathered a couple magazines I wanted to go through and set to work.



I got a ton of lovely clippings from the January issue of Sunset. Admittedly, I spent a little longer than the allotted 10 minutes, but the January issue was an exception. Usually there might only be one or two pages I actually want to tear out, or maybe not any.

And what to do with these lovely clippings, you might ask, to avoid creating even more paper clutter?



For years I've had this cute accordion file. I bought this when I was pregnant with Jacob, so it is 21 years old. I decided to use it for my inspiring clippings.




I've been working on these categories and still need to tweak them a bit, but these are the types of clippings I like to save--decorating, trips, health, inspiring fashion. I have a separate (plain) file folder for the recipes and one for pretty images for inspiration boards. I really like having everything neatly tucked away in here. Periodically, I just look through and recycle any old clippings that don't interest me anymore. I recently took some things out from the 90's that looked so dated! It was interesting to see what I used to save.



And here is where the accordion file normally "lives"--on my little bookshelves in the kitchen. Nice and handy.

vegan update

{a Saturday lunch}

{greens with dried cranberries and baked tofu}

{broccoli peanut noodles}

{baked tofu and potatoes}

{breakfast: smoothie, almond butter toast, coffee with almond milk}

{salad with chickpeas}

{sweet potatoes with orange and cilantro glaze}

Doesn't all this food look delicious? A few more photos are included in my flickr set. I can't say I'm totally sold on the vegan lifestyle, but scrolling through these pictures makes me see that I've been eating well.

Heather has us do a weekly check-in, so I'll just go through those prompts right here:

energy and vitality :: I've been tired, as I mentioned yesterday, but I don't think it's from being vegan. The time change has been difficult for me, and Rainer has been waking at night, so I think those issues account for the tiredness. When I think about how I have actually felt in my body, it's been good. I feel light and healthy.

cravings :: surprisingly, I don't crave meat or eggs. What I really want is cheese, butter, and milk. Mostly, I don't think it's a physical craving for the actual food. What I want from those items is the comfort. One thing I have realized through all of this is that I am very emotionally attached to my food.

hair, skin, and body shape :: all good. I can't say I've noticed an extreme difference, but I have dropped a few pounds, which is good.

mood and emotions :: during week two I was really struggling. I wanted the comfort of easy take-out food and I wanted to eat what everyone else was eating. I realize a lot my success or lack of it depends on my attitude (which is so true with a lot of things).

most nourishing foods :: those bean and veggie salads I posted above. So yummy, easy, and healthy.

biggest challenge :: adjusting my attitude. Also, making everything from scratch and not being able to get quick take-out.

most fun I had :: having a few hours in the house alone yesterday. I picked up, did a white tornado, talked on the phone with Carrie, and then went on a fun errand-y walk. So refreshing!

i got clear that I really want to :: figure out my future eating. Deal with my emotional attachment to food. Figure out how to keep eating well without being on a structured program.

next week I plan to :: enjoy it. Not whine. Ponder how to go forward with healthy eating intact.

That's it! I have had a few "cheats," like making a batch of guacamole to eat with tortilla chips, having several bites of "Coconut Bliss" (a vegan ice cream), and I have refused to give up our Subway nights, so I just get the veggie patty on wheat (no cheese, no mayo) and just call it "vegan enough" (I don't think those veggie patties are actually vegan, though).

Are you doing the program too? How's it going?

dreamy/practical

I think a dreamy/practical list is very much in order for this weekend. Here we go:

Dreamy
:: make granola--two batches: one to keep, and one to send with Jacob when he goes back to college.
:: cut out fabric for a wrap-around skirt I've been planning for months
:: go for a one-hour "adventure walk"
:: stop at the local thrift store
:: putter in my studio
:: read my new book
:: sip tea and eat vegan cookies (I want to make these ones)

Practical
:: drop off old magazines at the library
:: declutter for half an hour
:: do a white tornado
:: tons of laundry
:: cook
:: Sunday night preparations (lunches, etc)

I've been so tired this week! Too tired to get up early to do blog posts. I'm hoping to reverse that starting now.

I just checked my "comments waiting for moderation" and published those, along with three or four that had gotten caught in the spam filter. Thank you for all your comments!

What are you up to this weekend? Dreamy, or practical?

happy spring!

Yesterday was the vernal equinox, and what a rainy one it was! So rare for us at this time of year. It was really quite cozy.



We had our usual equinox tea to celebrate, and as usual for the spring tea, I had some dietary restrictions. I couldn't eat most of this, but I did include some vegan things as well. Ken made this huge pile of cucumber sandwiches. I wasn't planning on making these this time, but it's a beloved tradition so he ran to the market in the rain to buy white bread and an English cucumber. So sweet.



I made this nice veggie tray with raw cashew dip so I would have something to eat. The cashew dip recipe is found here. I also made a vegan chocolate cake (Rainer had fun helping me with that one). Later in the day, we were sitting around folding laundry and watching a Project Runway episode and everyone was snacking on vegan chocolate cake and Dieter said, "I want more vegetarian cake, please." It was so cute and funny because most cake is vegetarian, after all.



Happy spring to everyone! I am off to work this morning. I have three solid weeks of work, then one week off for spring break. Am so looking forward to that. And today I get to see Jacob! He came down from Santa Cruz late yesterday and is at my parents house now, but I'll get to see him tonight. Hooray! Looking forward to that.

crazy sexy diet

I have been reading this book lately and really enjoying it. This is they type of book which (for me, anyway) you have to take the good/interesting/helpful parts and leave the rest. The author promotes a pretty hardcore vegan/mostly raw lifestyle which I of course would never be able to follow, but there is so much inspiration here for healthy lifestyle stuff. Not only is there a bunch of interesting diet information (especially about juicing), but also inspiration for meditation, yoga, "booty shake" (exercise), and other cool stuff like dry skin brushing. The author's writing style is very sassy and fun and even though she promotes a vegan lifestyle she is never judgmental--she's actually very loving in her approach and she has a super-compelling personal story.





Here is the documentary she produced/starred in. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 and since her cancer is very rare, very slow growing, and is a type which does not spread, she never got treated for it. She keeps the tumors in check by doing the high alkaline diet (explained in the book) and watchful waiting. But she doesn't promote that for everyone. The other women she profiles in the film all received standard chemo and so forth.

I'm pretty inspired to get a juicer now. Does anyone have a juicer that they love? I very much like the looks of this one, but one reviewer did mention that it is not the greatest for the green juices, which is what I want to make. Please send recommendations if you have any!

booty shake

Adding in exercise is by far the hugest healthy lifestyle challenge I face. I certainly like the idea of being active and lively, but my natural personality is sedentary. Not that I have time to be a couch potato, ever, but that is what I would tend toward given the opportunity. My natural inclination would be to sit at the table sipping a cup of tea and looking at my newest book or planning recipes for the week. I'm just not an active person.

I know I've written before about my good intentions for exercise. My favorite was when I was doing these walks -- but they take time. Time I generally don't have during the school year. Most days when I get home from work I put my things away, greet everyone, and immediately start cooking.

So now I have a new plan. The afternoon "booty shake" (fun term adopted from this book, which I'm enjoying. I just have to smile when I use the word "booty shake" in a sentence--for example, "Faith, can you come time my booty shake?" Booty shake = exercise). The new plan is to jump on the trampoline for five minutes every day. Easy, right? Actually, it's much more of a workout than you'd think! I'm heart is totally pounding by the end of five minutes and I keep asking Faith for timer updates throughout my jump. I feel heavy and clunky up there, but that is the point of it: that I really need this. I'm noticing a change in my weight and body now that I'm older, so this is the time to do something about it.

The fun thing about the trampoline jumping is that it is so fun. You can't help but smile and laugh when you are jumping up there! And the whole family smiles and laughs along with me. The boys think it's hysterical when mama uses the trampoline and Faith is usually encouraged to get on and jump a little too.

I think I can stand just about anything for five minutes a day, so hopefully this will stick. So much better than doing nothing!

faith's smoothie

{smoothie ingredients}

In the comments this morning, Cindy said, "Would you please share Faith's green smoothie recipe? I need amounts or I will just make a mess of it!"

Cindy, I totally get that. I am usually a person who loves recipes, directions, and proportions. But believe me, this is really simple, and anything goes. My original green smoothie post is here. I still stick to those same ingredients a lot of the time. But recently I've been interested in upping the vegetables, so we decided to add cucumbers. Yum! We call this "Faith's smoothie" because she made the first one over the weekend. Really, anything goes. Just keep in mind that if you add red fruit (strawberries, or a blood orange as above) your smoothie will be a little bit brownish. I encourage you to maybe avoid the red fruits at first.

Here is what we used today. We laid it out on the cutting board so you can get an idea of amounts: two oranges (these are from the yard--one blood orange and one Cara Cara), peeled, frozen mango chunks (buy them at Trader Joe's), spinach, a banana, and 1-2 little cucumbers (we buy the ones at Trader Joe's they call Persian cucumbers, I think), peeled. We like to get all or most of it organic. Place this all in the blender and add water (maybe about a third of the way up the blender to start). Adding enough liquid is the key to getting the smoothie to blend in a regular blender (which is what we have). Then blend, blend, blend. If it won't blend, add more water. Let the blender run for a full minute or two. You want the spinach to be totally ground up. It is very unpleasant to find a big piece of spinach leaf in your smoothie! We love the taste of the cucumbers in this, and I'm also enjoying a somewhat less sweet smoothie.



Anyone else adding more veggies to their smoothies? I'd love to hear your suggestions.

good morning

{some scenes from around the yard}

Thanks so much for all the nice comments and support these last several days. You guys are such a great community. I want to let you know that I am feeling much much better since I finally got to speak with the neurologist yesterday. Rainer is going to have another MRI in a month or two, just to make sure everything is back to normal, and we are hoping that the seizure is a one-time thing. They are telling us that is the most likely scenario and that these one-time seizures are fairly common.

And as far as 30-Day Vegan, goes, I have to say that yesterday was the first day that I felt sort of light and energetic and good in my body. I'm a bit behind the rest of the group--it was day six for me--so I think that is why I lagged behind everyone else. Last night I made the vegan chili recipe from the program and it was excellent. My favorite recipe so far. And Faith and I made green smoothies again. We are loving the addition of cucumber so much!

And here's a fun vegetable-related anecdote: on Sunday morning I was getting a little picnic ready for us to take to Santa Barbara. The boys saw the raw veggies I was cutting up for the picnic--cucumber slices, bell peppers, and carrots--and they both totally got enthusiastic and wanted sliced veggies as a side for their breakfast! It was really cute and it made me realize once again that when the mama healthies up her diet, the whole family goes healthier too.

We have a whole bunch of lemons on the tree right now. I'm hoping to squeeze some and freeze cubes of lemon juice for the summer. Wouldn't that be nice?

how 30-day vegan is going

{oatmeal sundae}

{faith's green smoothie: cucmber, pineapple, banana, mango, spinach, water}

{family-friendly pad thai}

{vegan fried rice}

{green smoothie at work}

{arugula and chickpea salad, recipe here}

30 Day Vegan started this past Monday. I was still in the hospital with Rainer, so I started Tuesday night when I go home. Heather is running a beautiful program. I'm blown away by the quality of what she has put together. The recipes are delicious and simple and based on real food: veggies, beans, grains--nothing fake or heavily processed. Her twice daily blog posts are gentle and thought provoking. It is just a lovely program.

I'm struggling a bit. Mostly because it is so much work! Here is what I don't like about being vegan: you have to cook all your own food, and the cooking involves a lot of chopping and long-cooking of beans and grains. There is just no way around it: following a whole foods diet really is more work. The reason I wanted to do this program was to stop some of my bad eating habits which have intensified lately. It's working, but I really see why I opt for convenience a lot of the time: because I'm stressed and busy.

But I am sticking with the program. And I have to say, even though I feel a bit deprived because I want to fall back on old comfort routines (stopping for a donut on my way to work, for example, or having coffee with cream or milk), I'm not really suffering. The food is so good. Surprisingly good, I must say. My goal is to stick with the program, learn a lot of delicious recipes (which I am), and then, at the end, evaluate what I want to "keep" and what I want to add back in.

Heather encouraged us to plan some sort of treat for this weekend. I didn't really plan anything, but ended up, late in the day, making a healthy vegan cookie that she had posted on her blog in the past (here) and Ken and I went to Starbucks for a little date. I had a soy latte and it was really good. Having a treat really helped.

rainer update

Rainer is back to his sweet, adorable self. He went to preschool Thursday and Friday and now we are enjoying being home together on the weekend.

I, on the other hand, am dealing with some emotional stuff-- fallout from last weekend, I think. I was extremely joyful at first, having him home and getting back to our routine, and then today I just crashed and felt blue and teary all day. I actually feel a little PTSD-ish, to tell the truth. We never had any closure about what happened--never got to speak with the neurologist after the initial introduction--so I'm having a hard time processing it all. I'm feeling a little better tonight, though. I went on a coffee date with Ken and am looking forward to taking the kids to Santa Barbara tomorrow. I know it will do me good to get out of the house and go to a beautiful place.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers and positive energy. They have meant so much to me. I'm hoping to get a post up tomorrow about the 30 day vegan thing I am doing.

we are home!

Thank you SO MUCH for all your prayers and good wishes and healing energy for Rainer these last few days. We are home and he is fine. We still haven't gotten test results back from his MRI, but what they are telling us is that they think this might be a one-time thing.

Here's what happened: on Sunday Rainer woke up from his nap and he was just staring. He didn't respond to me, couldn't talk, had limited use of his left side, didn't respond to his name, and the corner of his mouth was twitching on the left. I called the oncologist and then Faith and I drove Rainer down to the hospital. In the car, he had more obvious seizure like activity--much more twitching and movement on his left side and a lot of vomiting. I ended up taking him to the closer hospital rather than driving him all the way to Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, at the more local hospital, it seemed he was largely ignored most of the time he was there, and in retrospect, I think he was still seizing most of the time he was there. He was mostly vacant and staring for hours.

Near the end of our stay at the first hospital, Rainer finally got some anti-seizure meds on board. I was totally freaked out and terrified of never having my little boy "back" by this point. It is awful to see your child in such a terribly altered mental state. Finally, we got transferred to our usual hospital in Santa Barbara (by ambulance). Gratefully, when he was being rolled into the PICU at our regular hospital, he opened his eyes and said "I just wish we could go home." It was music to my ears!

Ken will stay home with him today. I am well and truly out of sick days so will go to work.

Thank you again for all the healing energy. It helped so much. You guys are such a wonderful and supportive community. I appreciate every prayer and healing thought.

PS--editing to add that Ken and Dieter were out hiking in the desert this weekend, so were not home when this was all starting.

Hi, this is Faith again. Rainer and mom are still in the hospital. He's being a champ while they do lots of tests on him. Mom's been updating her twitter periodically with news.
Thank you all so much for your kind and loving words, we all really appreciate it.

hi everyone. This is Faith, Mary Beth's daughter. Earlier today our little Rainer suffered a seizure. He's in the hospital. We're asking for all your prayers.
Thank you.

dreamy/practical

{post office, last weekend}

I think a "dreamy/practical" list is in order for the weekend. Rainer will be a bit grumpy and tired (because of the meds he is on right now), but we'll see what suits him. Maybe we can at least do some of this.

Dreamy

:: watch Thomas dvd's with the boys (did last night--cozy)
:: knit on the couch while I watch the boys play
:: drink coffee with whole milk
:: eat Girl Scout cookies (bought some last night in front of the local market)
:: go to Santa Barbara--take a picnic and go to the Natural History museum
:: make a short stop at the beach
:: watch old Nigella Bites episodes
:: wear tights

Practical

:: make a notebook for 30 Day Vegan
:: do my final shopping for the program
:: clean kitchen/declutter
:: clean out the fridge
:: make a grainy loaf of bread
:: lots of laundry
:: Sunday routines: cooking, making lunches, getting ready for the week

I actually think a lot of my practical things this weekend are fairly dreamy--I'll enjoy getting ready for the vegan cleanse.

How about you? What are your plans this weekend?

welcome march

Another inspiration board from my office. I have really enjoyed this little project--changing it at the first of every month. Once again I wasn't ready for the change, so was rooting around to see what I already had in my bag and desk drawer. Here is what I came up with. A sheet torn from Whole Living, with a postcard from 3191 quarterly and a cut-out from the Australian zine Spoonful (I don't subscribe to that one--not yet anyway--but I did splurge on two issues awhile back. They are lovely). I've gotten over my reluctance to cut up my magazines and I am enjoying them so much more, now. I'm cutting out more recipes, projects and so forth, but having these pretty images on display is my very favorite thing.

Looking forward to in March--

:: 30 day Vegan. So excited for this adventure. I am really needing a whole food cleanse right now. My eating habits have not been exemplary.

:: am currently reading Project Happily Ever After. So interesting. It reminds me of The Happiness Project (and in fact, the Happiness Project blog is where I found the link to the book). It's more about the author's personal narrative than a marriage manual, and for that reason is a real page turner.

:: spending freeze. I'm only a few months from having our debt paid off. I'm going into spending freeze mode again so I don't mess it up. That means no clothes, no crafting supplies, no new books that haven't already been ordered (I admit, I do have one book on the way). I have one trip to Ikea planned when Carrie visits in April, but other than that, no personal spending!!

I love March because I can really see summer looming in the near distance. What are you looking forward to this month?

oatmeal cookies

I'm switching to morning blogging, and it promises to be a painful transition. I have to leave really early for work, so if I blog at all in the morning, it has to be at 5 am or so. Ouch! But I'm doing it because I think it is so much better for the family. I've tried this before--and I was doing it pretty consistently--but it was back in the days when Rainer was still waking a lot. So even if I got up dutifully at 4:30 or 5 am, if the baby woke I'd be back at square one, trying to nurse a toddler and blog at the same time. It got to be really frustrating, so I switched back to night time blogging so I'd be more likely to get an uninterrupted stretch. So now I'm back to mornings--if the posts are sporadic and short for awhile, you'll know why!

The recipe above is from the January issue of Martha Stewart Living. They are doing a cute thing on the back page this year--featuring a cookie and a special way to wrap it for giving. We didn't do the special wrapping (or give them away for that matter), but I did want to try the recipe. I'm looking for the "perfect" oatmeal cookie recipe.

Rainer wanted to add M & Ms to these, which we did. They are really a rather weird addition to a cookie with raisins.



Kind of pretty, huh? Not a popular cookie with the family, though. Rainer had a great time helping me measure the ingredients and scoop out the dough, but he didn't even want the finished product. Oh well! Next week I start 30-Day Vegan (see my sidebar for the link), but after that I still want to try different oatmeal cookies and find the best. I've started to make a little list of recipes to try.